Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Cody Critcheloe & SSION, "BOY," at The Hole

The new gallery run by Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman down on Greene Street, The Hole, has a new Web site! It is fresh and clean, thoroughly stocked with information and pleasing to the eye. Sadly, they decided not to cart over the grating Warren Fischer theme song that plays — yes, it is still there — on the site of Deitch Projects (where Grayson and Coleman used to work).

In any sense, their current show is by Cody Critcheloe of the dirty and sloppy Kansas City punk band SSION (“shun”), who has turned the gallery into a psychedelic, Op-art catacomb-pleasure dome. Checkered diamonds line the ceiling, neons of every color cover the walls, and some comfy pillows have been scattered around the floor (next to tombstones, one adorned with a riff on Sonic Youth’s Washing Machine record cover).

The main draw here is Critcheloe’s new feature film, BOY, which details the band’s attempt to break out of the American heartland. There are performances in forests, some weird interviews, and some raucous scenes of automobile destruction. Critcheloe has also invited friends to show work: photographer Jaimie Warren and fashion designer Peggy Noland, whose miniature boutique is situated out front in a shop made of garbage (see below), a sort of contemporary Merzbau.

Noland has a runway show lined up for Friday, and SSION will close the whole affair down with a one-night stand on Saturday.